Few Nollywood stars have managed to reinvent themselves quite like Damilola Adegbite. Best known to millions of Nigerians as Telema Duke on the long-running soap opera Tinsel, she has spent the past two decades building a career that stretches far beyond a single iconic role, moving fluidly between acting, television hosting, entrepreneurship, and most recently, wellness coaching and authorship.
Born and raised in Lagos, Damilola Adegbite rose to national prominence in the late 2000s when she stepped into the multi-camera soap opera Tinsel, a show that became a fixture of Nigerian television. Her portrayal of the headstrong, aspiring actress Telema Duke struck a chord with audiences and earned her a Best Actress in a TV Series award, cementing her place among Nollywood’s most recognisable faces.
What makes Damilola’s story compelling is not just her on-screen success but how she has used her platform to speak candidly about marriage, single motherhood, and personal reinvention. From a divorce that played out partly in public view to the launch of a wellness brand and charitable foundation, her journey reflects the evolving story of a Nigerian woman building a multi-dimensional public life on her own terms.
Profile
| Full Name | Oluwadamilola Adegbite |
| Born | 18 May 1985 |
| Age | 41 years old |
| Birthplace | Surulere, Lagos State, Nigeria |
| State of Origin | Lagos State |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Occupation | Actress, Model, Television Personality, Author, Wellness Coach |
| Parents | Father (civil servant, deceased), Mother (teacher) |
| Siblings | Four siblings |
| Children | One son, Brian Nii Ayittey Olaferomi Attoh |
| Relationship Status | Divorced |
| Net Worth | $500,000 |
Early Life
Damilola Adegbite was born Oluwadamilola Adegbite on 18 May 1985 in Surulere, Lagos State, into a Yoruba family. She grew up alongside four siblings in a household led by her father, who worked as a civil servant, and her mother, a teacher. Although her parents largely stayed out of the public eye, Damilola has spoken warmly about a childhood filled with street carnivals, close-knit neighbours, and an open-door culture typical of Surulere in the 1980s and 1990s.
From an early age, she gravitated toward performance, taking part in school plays and church drama groups long before acting became a career path. Her father, she has said, supported her creative ambitions from the very beginning, encouraging her love for dressing up and re-enacting scenes from films she watched as a child. That early exposure to storytelling would eventually shape the direction her adult life would take.
Education
Damilola Adegbite completed her secondary education at the prestigious Queen’s College in Yaba, Lagos, where she served as vice president of the school’s drama society between 2001 and 2002. This early leadership role in theatre arts gave her a structured outlet for the acting talent she had shown since childhood.
She proceeded to Bowen University in Iwo, Osun State, where she earned a degree in Business Administration. The combination of a formal business education and grassroots theatre experience would later prove useful as she expanded from acting into entrepreneurship and brand building.
Career
Damilola Adegbite’s entry into the entertainment industry began around 2006, when she took on a role in the Ghanaian-Nigerian production 6 Hours to Christmas, directed by Shirley Frimpong-Manso. It was a modest start, but it placed her on the radar of casting directors at a time when Nollywood and its television counterparts were expanding rapidly. Around the same period, she also worked as a television presenter and model, building visibility before her breakout role arrived.
Her defining moment came in 2008, when she was cast as Telema Duke in Tinsel, the MNet multi-camera soap opera that became one of the most talked-about television productions in Nigeria. Audiences embraced her portrayal of an ambitious young actress navigating love, career, and family drama, and the role ran for several years, with Damilola briefly stepping away from the show in 2012 to explore film projects before returning in 2015. Her performance on Tinsel earned her the Best Actress in a TV Series award at the 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.
Beyond Tinsel, Damilola built a respectable filmography that includes Flower Girl, in which she played Kemi Williams, as well as Heaven’s Hell and Merry Men. She also took on the lead role of Temilola Coker in the drama series Before 30, which explored the social pressure many Nigerian women face to marry before turning thirty, a theme that echoed conversations she would later have publicly about her own life choices. Her stage credits include productions such as The V Monologues, Wedding Blues, and Iya Ile, reflecting a theatre foundation that has remained part of her artistic identity.
Damilola also built a notable career in television hosting, working with Sound City Television from around 2008 to 2010 as a red carpet host and program anchor, where she interviewed numerous celebrities and anchored shows including Chartroom and Global Countdown. She extended her reach into commercial work as well, fronting television campaigns for brands such as Brilliance Motors and Nestle.
In recent years, Damilola has continued to expand her range. She featured in the pan-African thriller Skeleton Coast in 2024, joining an ensemble cast hunting a mythical gem along Namibia’s coastline. In 2025, she returned to a familiar narrative with a lead role in After 30, a continuation of the themes she explored in Before 30, playing a high-powered lawyer navigating love and ambition in her thirties. That same year, she joined the cast of Kemi Adetiba’s high-profile Netflix crime series To Kill a Monkey, significantly raising her international visibility and placing her among Nollywood talents reaching global streaming audiences.
Outside acting, Damilola has built a business identity through ventures including Damiville and Kasham by Adedamme, an enterprise dealing in accessories, aromatherapy, and make-up products based in Lekki, Lagos. More recently, she has rebranded much of her public work around wellness and personal development, describing herself as a certified health, wellness, and life coach.
Awards & Nominations
- Best Actress in a TV Series — 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards (for Tinsel)
- Nominee, Best Actress in a Leading Role — Nollywood Movie Awards, 2014
- Nominee, Best Actress — Nigeria Entertainment Awards, 2014
Social Media
Damilola Adegbite maintains an active social media presence, where she shares updates on her acting career, wellness work, and motherhood, while engaging a sizeable and loyal fan base across platforms.
- Instagram: @adedamee
- Threads: @adedamee
Personal Life
Damilola Adegbite met Ghanaian actor Chris Attoh on the set of Tinsel, where their on-screen chemistry eventually developed into a real-life relationship. The couple got engaged in August 2014, welcomed a son named Brian in September of that year, and married in Accra, Ghana, on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 2015. Their union, however, ended in divorce in September 2017, citing irreconcilable differences.
The breakup attracted considerable public attention after Damilola deleted Attoh’s surname from her social media handles, unfollowed him on Instagram, and removed photos of him from her account, prompting Chris to confirm publicly that the marriage was over. In later interviews, Damilola explained that love alone was not enough to sustain a marriage and that she holds no regrets about the decision, noting that her continued respect for her ex-husband stems from his role as the father of her son.
Since her divorce, Damilola has remained single, choosing instead to focus on raising her son and building her career. She has spoken openly about not being in a rush to remarry, valuing companionship over the pressure to find a new partner. In 2021, drawing on her own experience of heartbreak and reinvention, she launched a self-help book titled Reset: The Mind-Body Approach to a New You, alongside a charitable foundation called With A Gentle Heart, created to support single mothers and their children. She has also faced years of public speculation suggesting she is a twin to fellow actress Kehinde Bankole, rumours that neither actress has ever confirmed or fully addressed.
Net Worth
Damilola Adegbite’s net worth is estimated at around $500,000, a figure built from multiple income streams accumulated over nearly two decades in entertainment. Her primary earnings come from acting fees across television and film, including her long-running role in Tinsel and more recent appearances in productions such as Skeleton Coast, After 30, and the Netflix series To Kill a Monkey.
Beyond acting, she earns from brand endorsements and television commercials, modelling work, and her television hosting career. Her business ventures, including her accessories and beauty enterprise Damiville and Kasham by Adedamme, alongside book sales from Reset and her work as a certified wellness and life coach, contribute additional and increasingly significant income to her overall portfolio.
Filmography & Notable Works
- 6 Hours to Christmas (2006/2010)
- Tinsel (2008–2012, 2015–) — as Telema Duke
- Flower Girl (2013) — as Kemi Williams
- Heaven’s Hell
- Merry Men 1 & 2
- From Lagos with Love
- Before 30 — as Temilola Coker
- Skeleton Coast (2024)
- After 30 (2025) — as Temi
- To Kill a Monkey (2025, Netflix)
- Reset: The Mind-Body Approach to a New You (book, 2021)
FAQs
How old is Damilola Adegbite?
Damilola Adegbite was born on 18 May 1985, making her 41 years old.
What is Damilola Adegbite famous for?
She is best known for playing Telema Duke in the Nigerian soap opera Tinsel.
Is Damilola Adegbite married?
No. She was previously married to Ghanaian actor Chris Attoh from 2015 to 2017 and has remained single since their divorce.
Does Damilola Adegbite have children?
Yes, she has one son, Brian, from her marriage to Chris Attoh.
What is Damilola Adegbite’s net worth?
Her net worth is estimated at around $500,000.
Conclusion
Damilola Adegbite’s journey from a Surulere childhood to one of Nollywood’s most enduring faces reflects a career built on adaptability rather than a single moment of fame. From Telema Duke to her recent appearance in a major Netflix production, she has consistently found ways to stay relevant in a fast-changing industry while also opening up about the personal struggles that shaped her, particularly around marriage and motherhood.
As she continues to balance acting with her growing identity as an author and wellness coach, Damilola Adegbite stands as an example of a public figure using both her platform and her personal story to build something lasting. Her ongoing work, both on screen and through her foundation, suggests her story is far from finished.